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Everybody Does It
Academic cheating is at an all-time high. Can anything be done to stop it?
If there were a test on the current state of cheating in school, I would have gotten an F. My knowledge was as outdated as the stolen answers to last week's quiz. Ask a high school or college student about cheating, and before you can finish the sentence, the person will blurt out two things: "Everybody does it," and "It's no big deal." Survey statistics back up the first statement, and the lack of serious consequences and lax enforcement of academic integrity policies in schools support the second.
Not only is cheating on the rise nationally - a 2005 Duke University study found that 75 percent of high school students admit to cheating, and if you include copying another person's homework, that number climbs to 90 percent - but there has also been a cultural shift in who cheats and why.
It used to be that cheating was done by the few, and most often they were the weaker students who couldn't get good grades on their own. There was fear of reprisal and shame if apprehended. Today, there is no stigma left. It is accepted as a normal part of school life, and is more likely to be done by the good students, who are fully capable of getting high marks without cheating. "It's not the dumb kids who cheat," one Bay Area prep school student told me. "It's the kids with a 4.6 grade-point average who are under so much pressure to keep their grades up and get into the best colleges. They're the ones who are smart enough to figure out how to cheat without getting caught."
Denise Pope agrees. She's an adjunct professor in the School of Education at Stanford University, founder and director of Stanford's SOS: Stressed-Out Students Project and author of "Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic and Miseducated Students." "Nationally, 75 percent of all high school students cheat. But the ones who cheat more are the ones who have the most to lose, which is the honors and AP (advanced placement) students. Eighty percent of honors and AP students cheat on a regular basis."
The pressure to succeed weighs heavily on these students. An upper-middle-class senior at an East Bay private high school, whom I'll call Sarah (who like many high school and college students I interviewed insisted on anonymity), sums it up succinctly: "There's so much pressure to get a good job, and to get a good job you have to get into a good school, and to get into a good school, you have to get good grades, and to get good grades you have to cheat."
Pope understands how Sarah feels, considering the college admissions climate, where one B can put your application on the reject pile. "For kids with a very high GPA and very high SAT scores, who have taken a ton of AP classes, what distinguishes them is how perfect they are. So there's no room for any kind of error. And if there's no room for error, you tend to cheat, even though these students would have done just fine on the test. They say they cheat because 'this is my safety net.' "
Cheating to win
The other group of students recently revealed to be most like likely to cheat is athletes. In a landmark survey of nearly 5,300 high school athletes conducted in 2005 and 2006 by the Josephson Institute of Ethics in Los Angeles, 65 percent admitted to cheating in the classroom more than once in the previous year, as opposed to 60 percent of nonathletes, a percentage that institute founder Michael Josephson says is statistically significant. And varsity athletes were more likely to cheat than nonvarsity.
Athletes in the high-profile male sports such as football, baseball and basketball are more willing to cheat than other athletes. The one women's sport that yields similar results is softball. For generations, sports have been perceived as an endeavor that builds character and instills positive values in youth. These study results, released in February, prompted many to ask: Just what are the coaches teaching these kids?
The fact that athletes must maintain a minimum GPA to stay on the team is one factor, but Josephson thinks there's something deeper going on. "The major male sports seem to be spawning a win-at-any-cost mentality that carries over into the classroom. Thirty-seven percent of boys and 20 percent of girls said it was proper for a coach to instruct a player to fake an injury. Forty-three percent of boys and 22 percent of girls surveyed said it was proper for a coach to teach basketball players how to illegally hold and push, for example. "Now that is clearly illegal," says Josephson. "Whether you call it cheating or just breaking the rules, it's illegal. It changes the game. You're not supposed to hold. In the survey, a substantial number of the young people thought that was permissible. So you have to ask yourself, what is that telling us about the values that sports are generating?"
He understands the minimum-GPA factor and the time-management issue - fitting studying in amid the practices and games. "I think what allows them to succumb to it is also the fact that there's a sort of mental attitude that it's not that big a deal. I don't think they lose a lot of sleep over it. So as an ethicist, that's the piece of it I worry about. Is there no conscience operating? Because without a conscience, you have Enron."
Madeline Levine, Marin author of "The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids," says it's worrisome that the highest-performing kids in high school have few qualms about cheating. "They will be our doctors, our lawyers, our policymakers. And if the issue of integrity is on the back burner, that doesn't bode well for all of us."
Endemic in college
The pressure to succeed at all costs has boosted cheating levels in college to record levels also. A graduate of San Francisco's independent Urban School, whom we'll call Ellen, now a junior at the University of Southern California, says, "Everyone cheats. There is no cushion, so you have to do well; there isn't a choice. In college, there is no room for error. You cannot fail. You refuse to fail. People become desperate, so they'll do anything to do well. That's why people resort to paying others to do their papers. Because you feel: Mess up once and you are screwed. The end."
Tests are a big part of the grade in college, she says, and those are largely multiple-choice, which were a rude shock to someone coming from a progressive high school. "It's just memorization," says Ellen. "I came from Urban, where I was taught to bask in the glory of learning something, not to just sit down the night before with a bunch of kids on Adderall and go through the 30-page study guide and memorize as much as I can. And you can say that taking a drug to stay up so you can study is another form of cheating."
From her research, Pope is well aware of the widespread use by high school and college student of the drugs Adderall and Ritalin, normally prescribed to kids diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Students without the disorder find them easy to obtain legally (college students often use the phrase "I'm having a little trouble focusing" at the campus health center to get a prescription) or illegally from students sharing their prescription or selling pills for profit. Ellen says some college students will trade marijuana for Adderall.
Pope says use of stimulants is on the rise in high school, and more and more kids are using them to take the SAT. As in the debate over the use of steroids in sports, some students don't feel it's morally wrong - because it's still your brain at work - and are ignoring the health risks of taking a drug not meant for them, with no monitoring of dosage or side effects by a doctor. Pope says when she wrote "Doing School" (published in 2001), "it was No-Doz and caffeine. Now, especially in the past five years, it has switched to Adderall, Ritalin and illegal stimulants."
Pope says a lot of students' philosophy is "Cheat or be cheated." So many of their friends are cheating, they figure they'd be a chump not to. "If you're the one honest kid, you're actually going to get the lower grades or the lower test scores."
And Josephson points out that according to one study, less than 2 percent of all academic cheaters get caught, and only half of them get punished. So there's almost a 99 percent chance of getting away with it.
Pirouz Mehmandoost graduated from Washington High School in Fremont in June and is about to enter California State University, Stanislaus. He says cheating is so common in middle school and high school that after a while "you just get used to it. It's not even a moral issue for high schoolers. Kids have become immune to it."
He says a popular method of cheating is networking, which he defines as "the easygoing smart kid gives the answers to some other kid."
"There was one time in a science class in freshman year," he recalls, "when I was networking with some other girl and we didn't get caught. We both got A's. It was a great feeling, actually, I'd have to say with no regret, mainly because I knew I would never have to use that information ever again."
Technology has made cheating easier and more sophisticated. But Pirouz says it's not causing the rise in cheating. "Cheaters are causing the rise. Technology is a catalyst, but text-message cheating is big because the cheaters are sending out the message. Some people keep their integrity, but some fall into the trap when it's suggested."
The Internet has provided all sorts of shortcuts for cheaters. They have Wikipedia at their fingertips, and thousands of ready-made term papers available for downloading from sites like Cheaters. com, Schoolsucks.com and Schoolpapers.com.
Some schools have tried to combat plagiarism by using a scanning service such as TurnItIn. com. The students are instructed to turn each paper in to the service, which uses a computer program to scan it for instances of plagiarism by comparing it against all published materials and previously submitted papers in the company's database. Any phrases in common are then highlighted for the teacher to see. According to the company, significant levels of plagiarism appear in 30 percent of papers submitted.
Kids use survival-mode thinking and exercise risk management when they decide to cheat, says Pope. Suppose someone gets to the end of several hours of homework and it's 10 p.m. and she still has an English paper to write. If she turns in nothing, she knows it's a guaranteed zero. If she downloads a paper from the Internet, she might get caught and get a zero. But if she doesn't get caught, she might get an A. So it seems worth it to many to turn in the plagiarized paper.
That's not cheating, it's helping
One of the most disturbing trends is that behavior once considered cheating is no longer thought to be so. Copying homework, for example. An eighth-grader in private school says, "That's not cheating, it's helping."
"We call it the morning scramble," says Pope. "In the morning at a high school, you see a ton of kids sitting around copying each other's homework. Because a percentage of their grade is based on their turning in their homework. And a lot of these kids are doing so many classes and after-school activities that there's no way they could possibly do all the work required of them. So kids don't even count that as cheating. That's just sort of survival for them: divvying up the work. That's why they're IM-ing (instant messaging) all the time while they're doing homework. It's another way of divvying up the work. It's a way of ensuring that you get it done. It doesn't matter how you do it, just get it done and get it in."
Pope has done a survey of cheating in 10 Bay Area middle school and high schools, both public and private. The results have not been published yet, but she shared some of them with The Chronicle. Students are given examples of cheating and then asked to indicate if they have done it more than once, and if they consider it not cheating, trivial cheating, regular cheating or serious cheating. At a local private high school, when presented with the phrase "Working on an assignment with others when teacher has asked for individual work," 60 percent said they had done that more than once, and 36 percent see it as not cheating. Of students at a large public high school responding to the same phrase, almost the same number: 61 percent, said they had done it more than once, but an even higher number, 42 percent, see it as not cheating.
The adults are doing it
With examples of cheating ever-present in the news - the BALCO scandal, point shaving by an NBA ref, grade changing at Diablo Valley College; and frequent examples of cheaters in at the highest levels of the corporate world, Washington and Hollywood escaping harsh penalties - many suggest kids learn to cheat from the larger culture.
Ethicist Josephson says, "The rule of thumb we use is: Whatever you allow you encourage. So whether they're seeing it with Enron or Barry Bonds or Paris Hilton, somewhere here or there, they are seeing people get away with stuff. The truth is they don't have to look further than their own high school. There is so much cheating going on in their own school by their own colleagues, with their teachers looking the other way, in a way that almost looks like passive approval. There's a culture that begins to develop, when you see people do this, and it provides the moral cover they need to insulate themselves from a conscience. It's like saying, 'Come on, I'm not the only one, it's happening all the time.'
"One of the marker questions we use is, 'People have to lie and cheat occasionally to succeed.' People who answer that affirmatively - and just under 50 percent of the whole sample of high school students answers that affirmatively, and half of the males - are more likely, the correlation shows, to cheat. You could infer that if you think you have to cheat in order to succeed, then your choice is between not cheating and not succeeding. If, on the other hand, you believe you can succeed without cheating, though it may be harder, there's a much greater chance you will resist the temptation."
David Callahan, author of the 2004 book "The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead," says there are two economic explanations for the rise of cheating. One is that there's more to gain. "We live in a time when the winners are getting ever more lavish rewards and the incentives to get to the top are greater than they've ever been before. In the late 1960s, if you were a CEO and you inflated the value of your company's stock by cooking the books, maybe you'd make a couple of extra million dollars when your stock holdings went up. But if you do that now, there's the potential to make hundreds of millions of dollars. If a top baseball player took performance-enhancing drugs 20 years ago and hit more home runs, maybe he'd make $1 million a year, which is how much the top players got paid in the mid- to late 1980s. Now, if you can join the ranks of the super top players, you can sign a $150 million, five-year contact."
The other economic reason is there's more to lose. The penalties for failure, or for simply being ordinary, have grown. The middle class has been squeezed, so it's harder and harder to maintain a decent standard of living.
Callahan says the two other things that account for the rise in cheating are lack of oversight and enforcement (as in deregulation in business and lack of serious consequences for violations in business, politics and the academic world) and a change in American culture, ushered in the 1980s with "greed is good" individualism and a shredding of the social contract. "In that cultural context, it's not surprising that people are willing to cut corners to advance their own self-interest."
But even if kids are not aware of cheating scandals like Enron, says Pope, "they are absolutely influenced by the role models they see close to them." So when they see their parent go "diagnosis shopping" to get a doctor to say they have ADD so they can have extra time to complete their SAT test, or they hear a coach tell them to fake an injury in football when their team is out of time-outs to gain an unofficial one, kids get the message that it's OK, even necessary, to do take whatever steps to gain an advantage. And to an adolescent that may translate as lie, cheat and steal.
"The interesting thing about cheating is that it's a window into a kid's soul, and into the family's soul, too," says Joe Di Prisco, the Berkeley author who co-wrote "Field Guide to the American Teenager" and "Right From Wrong: Instilling a Sense of Integrity in Your Child" with Mike Riera, head of Oakland's Redwood Day School. "Because so many of these kids are cheating to please their parents - to get a grade, to get into college, whatever. The 100 or so academic integrity cases I dealt with in 20 years as a high school English teacher and in two years as a vice principal in charge of disciplinary matters showed how desperate kids are to please their parents and help their friends."
The key for him was capitalizing on teenagers' desire to be authentic, to stay true to themselves, "and so you point up the irony that when you cheat you're not representing yourself, and you're helping your friend not to represent himself or herself, and it doesn't feel right, does it?
"There are just transcendent moments there in that room when kids see themselves, and they hear you saying, 'It's hard to be honest. We all make mistakes. You made a mistake, but we're going to move forward. There are consequences, but I still love you. Don't do it again.' If you do that, the kid will probably not cheat again. Probably."
But, he says, there have to be serious consequences and schools have to enforce them. If schools don't, cheating will increase. "You start expelling some kids for cheating, and cheating will stop."
What will stop it?
Josephson says there are a few steps schools could take that don't cost any money, that would cut the incidence of cheating in school testing by two-thirds in one year: Don't give the same test over and over again, separate kids so they don't see each other's papers, make it clear to students that it is unacceptable, have them sign a document that says they haven't cheated and punish cheaters. Also, don't let them come into tests with PDAs and cell phones.
Ronald Pang, principal of Lincoln High School in San Francisco's Sunset District, has an academic integrity policy at his school. He says it makes both the definition and consequences of cheating very clear. English teachers go over the policy with their students every year, and students and their parents must sign the policy and return it.
Some say schools have been lax on enforcement because today's parents often threaten litigation if a school pursues a cheating charge against their child. Pang says one of the benefits of having the integrity policy is that he can remind parents, "You signed this."
The reason parents aren't outraged about cheating, suggests Levine, is that we have come to value achievement over character.
"You don't find any parent movement saying, 'Oh my God, why is this happening?' " says Josephson. "It's a silent conspiracy creating the disease of low expectations: 'Well, we can't really expect people to be honest anymore.' "
Josephson's institute has worked with thousands of schools across the country to implement his Character Counts! framework for character education, which has reduced cheating in those schools. And Pope has worked with Bay Area schools to establish honor codes, which nationally have been shown in both high schools and colleges to reduce cheating substantially. "It takes a lot more than just saying we're going to slap your hands. You have to infuse it in the culture.
"I hate to put the blame on teachers and schools," she adds. "Schools are so burdened right now, and the teachers say parents won't support them when they catch the kids cheating, and before that, they put so much pressure on the kids to get these grades and test scores. And they set poor examples, like on the sports fields. If the parents aren't doing their job, it's very difficult for the teacher. You've got to have that consistent message across the school, home and coaching environments."
"We have lost our moral compass," says Josephson. "And no one is putting the flag in the sand and saying, 'This is wrong! It's dishonest, it's unacceptable, I don't care what the stakes are and why you're doing it, it's wrong, and we will not permit it.' The solution is in the voluntary commitment of the school system and the people who run it, the boards of education and the parents to say this is not acceptable. If they would do that, they could change it."
Top 5 Ways to Cheat
-- Copying from another student
-- Plagiarizing by downloading information or whole papers from the Internet
-- Cell phone cheating - text-messaging answers to another student, taking a picture of the test and e-mailing it to another student, or downloading information from the Internet
-- Getting test questions, answers or a paper from a student in a previous period or from a previous year
-- Bringing a permitted graphing calculator into the test loaded with answer material previously input into the computer portion of the calculator
Top 5 Ways to Curb Cheating
-- Create an honor code with student input so they're invested in it
-- Seriously punish cheaters according the academic integrity policy
-- Create multiple versions of tests to make purloined answer keys useless
-- Ban electronic devices in testing rooms
-- Develop multiple modes of assessment so the grade is not determined primarily on tests


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Groups rally to preserve six-day postal delivery
Union says small businesses will get hurt
Postal workers in Milwaukee joined a nationwide effort Sunday to keep Saturday mail delivery.
The group demonstrated in the 4300 block of West Lincoln Avenue.
Some lawmakers declared a longstanding provision in federal legislation mandates six-day deliveries, but postal authorities they will still deliver packages and prescription drugs six days a week.
On Sunday, a union spokesman said small businesses will get hurt.
"With the postmaster general saying that we're only going to do package delivery, things like checks and those sorts of invoicing and stuff like that for small businesses would go by the wayside," said Scott Van Derven, president of Wisconsin State Association of Letter Carriers.
A new spending bill passed by Congress continues the requirement for six-day mail delivery.


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Man fires shot on Hampton property after work dispute
Police make arrest, charge man with reckless conduct
Police went to a call Friday for a report of a person who had fired a weapon at another person on 548 Lafayette Road in Hampton.
The victim was able to provide police a description of the suspect and vehicle he was driving, according to officials.
When police responded to the home, they learned that the suspect was in fact working at the property when an argument started over the work that needed to be done as well as payment for that work.
Police said a scuffle erupted, and that's when the suspect took out a firearm, pointed it in the direction of one of the victims and fired the weapon.
With the description given by the victim, officers were able to spot the suspect's car on Route 101. They conducted a traffic stop and ended up arresting James Clark, 70, of Hampton.
Clark was charged with reckless conduct.
Clark was bailed on $5,000 personal recognizance and was forced to turn over all of his firearms. He is expected to be arraigned on May 8.
Officials said the incident is still under investigation.


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Hmm, Seems like I should have brought wadders to work tonight. From the note I just recieved looks like I may need to pull Baston Park down for a few days, I am told that it is now an under water cache,
I almost lost my furnace Sat. morning. My sump died and I had to get the regular pump out. 3.5 hours to empty it. I had a solid 4-5 inches in the middle. This is not good. I cant wait till it stops.
Lefty, I can understand that, we have spent the last 2 days here at work trying to dig out from all the trouble this rain has created for us and still more to come. Yesterday we were told that Keene NH was declared a state of emergancy and that we could not get techs out that was to fix anything. I heard that the only way to get to the keene office was by boat. you gotta love rain
I got home from work Sat. and had to pull out the sump pump too. 4" in the basement isn't enough to swim laps, but it does a number on all the old cardboard boxes. Time for an early spring cleaning
I am still in college and living at home, my room is in the basement, which floods like no tomorrow. Some days I wake up swimming... We buy sump pumps left and right and they never seem to work right... Basements aren't fun.
Sorry, you can not add yourself to your own ignore list.
I had to pull out my "Fort Halifax" cache today, I had to go in after it because it was 3ft under water. Under normal circumstances I would have left it, but there was a TB from norway in there and I wasn't about to let that one go.
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.


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Our first destination revealed: Munich. Congratulations to those of you playing along at home!
I don't know how to make the umlauts, but my heart wants to me to call Munich – Muenchen – in rememberance of all that I learned in German class in High School. Thanks Frau! (and yes, I realize the fact that we called our German teacher Frau is like just calling her Mrs. I don't know why it was a thing… it just was)
In fact, Frau has a lot to be thanked for in the planning of this trip. We will be flying into Munich because that's what planes from the United States do, but because of all the neat things we learned about in German, I feel a need to see these sights before leaving the city. My kind-hearted sister has granted my wish of an extra day to spend in Munich, even though she has been there twice, and thus it is pretty much her home away from home.
While in Munich, I feel the need to see the Glockenspiel at the Neues Rathaus. We learned so much about it in class, that I have to see it!
AND the Frauenkirche is in Munich! Which has the doppel zwiebelturm – these were highlighted in the book on tape: Geheime Mission (secret mission) that we read/listened to in the language lab. This is the description I found of it online: This spellbinding tale of industrial espionage is intended for beginning students. The other weird things we remember from this epic tale include something about lipstick and something about a potato cellar.
We also could go to the Olympic Park, since that seems to be a thing us spinster sisters do.
I was excited about the prospect of the English Gardens – because we all know how much I love gardens – but then I read on and discovered it is a favorite place for nude sunbathers. Not really my cup of tea.
At Lonely Planet, this quote caught my eye, "Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry climate." This led me to believe that Munich will be filled with sad looking ventriloquists meandering the streets with a puppet dangling off their hand. But then I kept reading, "Not all news is grim news in the puppet world, and puppetry is still thriving and even growing in popularity in certain puppet hotspots." WHEW! Thanks Lonely Planet!
A college roommate of mine lives near Munich – perhaps I'll have to find some ideas from her to help plan our itinerary! We won't have a lot of time in this city, but I currently only have two Muenchen dreams to make come true while we are there. Perhaps there are more dreams that she can tell me about which I am just not aware yet that I should be dreaming of!


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Speaking as part of a panel is a great opportunity to speak without the full responsibility for holding an audience's attention...a great way to break into speaking...and a real headache if you don't plan it right. To be a sought-after panelist, try these tips to enhance your success:
- Stand down if you're one panelist too many: What? Turn down a speaking gig? Absolutely...if you feel the organizers have asked too many panelists. I'm most comfortable on a panel of three, but have been asked to sit on panels of as many as eight, a situation in which I was told each speaker would have precisely 2.5 minutes to make remarks! Do the math: When you add in all the introductions, moderator comments and questions, will you have enough time to make an impact?
- Interview the organizer or moderator: What presentation technology is available? How many panelists? How much time will each of us have? Do I need to prepare a presentation or remarks, or is this more of a roundtable with the moderator asking questions? If so, what are the questions? What's the panel setup--table with microphones or each of us taking a turn at the lectern? How many people do you expect in the audience? Can I bring handouts or takeaway materials?
- Provide your introduction and a bio for the program: I'm a big fan of taking charge of your introduction, but never more so than when you're on a panel. Check out this suite of introductions, and choose a shorter one for the verbal intro, and a medium-sized one for the panel--keeping in mind that more than one speaker will be featured.
- Keep it simple: Don't bring your video, a load of slides or your full-on I'm-the-only-speaker game. Instead, good panelists contribute as part of a group, responding to the other speakers and to the audience. Choose a handful of key points and take it from there.
- Find your niche: Take the time to figure out (with the organizer, moderator or the other speakers) the unique role you can play in this panel. Are you the naysayer? The surprise element? An outside observer? Once you know your role, you can focus your remarks.
- Don't pile on during Q&A: Some panelists seem to feel as if they must comment on every question (even if it's to say, "What she said..."). Don't be that panelist. Instead, hold your own on the questions where you can contribute strongly, and let the others handle the questions on which you're not the authority.
- Think how you look when you're not speaking: On a panel of three, you're not speaking two-thirds of the time...but still visible to the audience. Are you doodling? Checking your smartphone? Looking out the window? Something worse? Remember that you're on stage all the time as a panelist, and cultivate a thoughtful, listening look while your colleagues are speaking.
Everything in moderation (for panel moderators)
5 ways to renew your speaking skills
Speakers: 7 reasons I want you to talk more
(Creative Commons licensed photo by rosarodoe with words added)
I'll be leading Be The Eloquent Woman, my day-long workshop on women and public speaking, as a pre-conference session at the European Speechwriter Network's autumn speechwriters and business communicators conference in Amsterdam. The workshop is 23 October and the conference is 24 October. You'll learn how to speak with confidence, content and credibility to subvert the common expectations of women speakers. Please join me!


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TIPS FOR HAVING A TROUBLE-FREE GOOD TIME
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For most people, late November marks the beginning of festivities and entertaining guests at home. The holidays are a popular time to invite friends and family over and the perfect occasion to relax and catch up in the hot tub. We asked our Jacuzzi® Facebook followers to share their advice and hot tub tips for guests.

We got a kick out of some of the responses:

– Welcome to our s a, there is no p in it. Keep it that way!
– Don't drink and dive.
– Bring those you love.

A good way to make sure everyone feels at home is to establish your own set of ground rules to follow. It's easier than it sounds, and a few guidelines can help make everybody feel comfortable and welcomed.

Snack items and beverages. Most invited guests will ask what they can bring in terms of snacks and beverages. As the host, provide the snacks items and drinks the first time guests are over and use the hot tub. Serve "hot tub safe" snacks, like fresh veggies, olives and other goodies that you can easily retrieve in case they fall into the water. Avoid serving snacks like crackers or potato chips, these type of snacks crumble and can easily fall into the water and cause a nightmare to clean up. Cool beverages taste great and refreshing when you're soaking in a hot tub – be festive with cranberry juice spritzers garnished with mint leaves. Non-alcoholic smoothies are always a popular choice for kids and adults. Take the opportunity to explain to guests the reason for your hot tub safe snack and beverage choices- so they can keep it in mind for the next party.

No foam please. Although the kid in all of us enjoys a warm bubbly bath, foam in a hot tub is not considered a good thing. The appearance of foam on spa water is typically created by:
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Shampoo or hair gel residue – Provide hair bands so guests with long hair can easily tie it up and keep it out the water.
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Body oil and lotions – Applying body oil or lotion the morning of an evening party is fine and will most likely not affect spa water. However, it's best to notify guests ahead of time not to apply lotions or oils on skin right before arriving to the party. Offer guests a variety of skin moisturizers to use immediately after bathing.
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Excessive detergent- Many people wash their swimsuit in strong detergents, which may reside in the clothing even after the rinse cycle. Ask your guests to rinse their swimsuits in water prior to arriving.
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Easy in, easy out. Going barefoot and stepping into the spa may track grass or dirt into the clean water. Keep extra sets of outdoor slippers handy for spa guests. It's easy to keep the hot tub water clean if your guests wear slip-on shoes and remove them right before they step into the hot tub.

Warm, cozy and dry. For me, the ultimate spa experience involves wrapping myself up in a large fluffy towel to stay cozy immediately after stepping out of the water. Extend the hospitality and make your guests feel pampered. Set out stacks of freshly laundered large fluffy towels near the spa and easily accessible.

We hope you find the above tips helpful as you begin party planning this season. Your guests are sure to enjoy relaxing in your hot tub and appreciate the extra thought put into making them feel at home.


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How Strand Rate Contributes To Pitcher's Luck
good pitcher will usually strike out a lot of batters, limit the number
of batters put on base via walks, and induce a lot of ground balls.
unlucky pitcher can be unfortunate in a number of ways: The quality of
opposition. The ballpark. A high percentage of balls hit into play
finding the gaps between fielders. A high percentage of fly balls
ending up as home runs. And perhaps the most under-appreciated form of
misfortune — a low strand rate.
is the pitcher's fault. If a pitcher is pitching to contact, a lot of
balls are going to go for hits. It stands to reason that some of those
hits will be back-to-back-to-back, ending up as earned runs. But some
pitchers are lucky enough to space out those hits as to avoid damage.
And some pitchers play on teams that have relievers who can come into
the game and clean up a mess.
that the major league average for strand rate (also known as LOB%) is
about 72%. Those who are much higher are getting lucky. Those who are
much lower are unlucky.
shows some pitchers who are relevant in most fantasy leagues who to
date who are well above or well below the norm:
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this grizzled veteran
doesn't deserve an ERA under 1. He's a pitch-to-contact guy who has
always been prone to giving up home runs. Much of his great fortune
this year is based on a hit rate under 19%, when the norm is more like
30%. But Hernandez has also been counting his blessings about the
batters he has allowed on base. Less than 3% have scored, the lowest
rate in baseball.
strand rate of 87.2% ranks near among the highest figures in the
National League. But his home runs allowed rate is worse than the
average pitcher (without an excessively high HR/FB rate to suggest
that's a fluke) and he's also getting lucky on hit rates. He may be
sporting a 2.48 ERA at the moment — and many might assume he's back to
dominant form — but Oswalt looks more like a good but not quite great
doing almost everything right this year. He's striking out a batter per
inning. He's slashed one full walk per 9 IP off last season's free pass
rate. He hasn't allowed a home run yet. But still, Liriano figures to
regress at least somewhat, given his 84.6% strand rate; the Twins
somewhat iffy bullpen raises the risk of regression. Liriano still
figures to have strong numbers. Just not a sub-2 ERA.
Striking out more than a batter per inning solves most problems, such
as a mediocre walk rate. Hanson hasn't allowed many home runs either,
but he has an 84% strand rate, which means a bit of regression
a poor strikeout-to-walk rate. His low hit rate and high strand rate
will make that 2.79 ERA go up quickly. His xFIP is a scary 4.59 at the
He's also surrendered seven home runs in his first 40 innings pitched.
So far, those home runs aren't killing Shields, because he's giving
them up when opposing batters aren't on base. And when opposing batters
do get on base, he's getting out of the inning without much
damage. On the plus side, though, the Tampa Bay pitcher is whiffing
9.68 batters per 9 IP, tops in
the American League. His 2.25 per 9 IP walk rate also ranks among the
top 10 in baseball.
Shields' strand rate points to a pitcher who's had a lucky season. But
the Rays righty has also posted a flukishly high 16.6% HR/FB rate.
Shields' ERA is an impressive 3.15; his xFIP is also 3.15, suggesting
that his good and bad luck are evening out. He's the outlier of the
strand-lucky group.
Justin Verlander:
Striking out a lot of batters? Check. Not walking too many batters?
Check. Not allowing an obscene amount of home runs? Check. How's his
hit rate? Also reasonable. Despite all that, Verlander has a 4.50 ERA,
when his FIP is just 3.34. A low strand rate (61.9%) is owed much of
the blame. If the Tigers can continue to play strong defense and throw
up good relief pitching numbers, that would only help Verlander even
worse this year than Floyd, who currently sports an ugly 6.89 ERA. But
his strikeout rate is actually better than his career average. He's
also allowing fewer home runs per inning than usual. He's become a
little more friendly to batters in the walks department, but it doesn't
explain the wide gap between his ERA and his respectable 4.30 xFIP. We
can at least pin much of the blame on misfortune from a 58.4% strand
rate, seventh-worst in the majors.
The Royals youngster doesn't have a particularly good strikeout-to-walk
rate, but he's fantastic in keeping the ball on the ground and in the
ballpark. That's because he's been doubly cursed with a high BABIP and
a low strand rate. Once those hit balls go for outs more often, and
runners become stranded on base, his ERA will come down. One caveat,
though: Hochevar owes much of his low home run rate to a microscopic
3.3% HR/FB rate, making his 4.49 xFIP not far from his5.03 ERA.
he's getting unlucky too. The Red Sox ace is whiffing fewer batters and
allowing more walks than in past years. But his hit rate is high and
strand rate is low as well. There's a lot of reasons why Beckett has a
6.31 ERA. A 61% strand rate just exacerbates the situation.
A pitcher who allows seven home runs in just over 33 innings is asking
for trouble. But six of those home runs have come with the bases empty.
That's about the only piece of good luck he's seen. Harang has been
cursed in a number of ways: A higher-than-normal HR-to-fly-ball rate, a
high BABIP, and of course, a low strand rate. There's good reason to
expect much better from Harang going forward: His ERA to date is 6.68,
vs. a solid xFIP of 3.83.
cut his home runs allowed and is striking out 7.48 batter per 9 IP –
down from last year but still above league average. His two biggest
downfalls are a terrible 5.86/9 IP walk rate and a 50.4% strand rate,
worst in the majors. That strand rate should improve dramatically. But
Paulino also needs to get his control in check to be
worth rostering in mixed leagues.


text:
Find a Park
View Statewide Map
2 Parks Found
Rainbow Springs State Park
From wading in the crystalline headwaters to canoeing, kayaking and lazily floating a tube down river, visitors at Rainbow Springs enjoy a priceless jewel in the Florida park system. The history of Rainbow Springs dates back centuries to a time when native peoples regularly visited this lush spring.
19158 SW 81st Place Rd.
Dunnellon FL 34432


text:
Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network with billings in excess of US$29.2 billion (source: RECMA). The network consists of 113 offices in 82 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, each dedicated to forging competitive marketing advantage for businesses and their brands. Mindshare is part of GroupM, which oversees the media investment management sector for WPP, the world's leading communications services group.
Innovation drives our belief that everything begins and ends in media. We've raised the bar with data management, creating CORE a first of its kind user-centric and open source data-driven marketing intelligence platform and are at the forefront of adaptive marketing, helping Nike to deliver 21,000 personalised ads in just three days to take over the Olympics.
Scale is our USP. We are a global network by design and we epitomise the intelligent application of scale. Not just because we were the first agency purpose-built as a global media management company and we are underpinned by GroupM, but also because our people are in every market around the world, understand every culture to which your consumers belong and can act as a single network with local knowledge.
Sharing is in our DNA (and indeed our name). Our unique integrated structure across 113 offices in 82 countries - focusing around our clients and innovation - delivers both strategic and trading excellence. Our people and our attitude are our key advantage. It enables us to see things happening on a global stage that others cannot. If you can see it, you can adapt. If you don't see it, you can't. We foster a spirit of original thinking and collaboration across every aspect of our business which simply means we can see global trends others cannot.
Mindshare has 113 offices in 82 countries. We believe in the intelligent application of scale – technological innovation in isolation is not the answer nor is buying power. The understanding of humans, derived from a truly global network, combined with the ability to mine big data to uncover small truths and then apply them to brand marketing, is what we at Mindshare call the intelligent application of scale. Sharing is at the core of the global Mindshare network and it gives us the agility to adapt to the changing world. It is in our DNA to share – ideas, cultures, success – and this is why we differ from rival organizations. It is in our DNA to be a global network.
Créez votre profil pour référencer votre activité, présenter vos meilleures réalisations, démontrer vos expertises et rejoindre le plus grand réseau marketing-pub.Créez votre profil


text:
The Vampire Diaries Season 4 Episode 4 recap
So when you become a vampire, you don't get your period anymore, right?
This is a ridiculous question, but it was the first thing I thought of when Elena and Damon were hanging out in a lecture hall. Someone in there has to be on their cycle – can Elena smell that? What about in the party? Remember how when you got to college you heard these types of questions for the first time that were sort of titillating and also intriguing? You dragged yourself to lectures, but then they are kind of exciting and if you feel that way, does that guy two rows over feel that way, and can you both remember that feeling when you run into one another later on that night?
One of the things The Vampire Diaries does so well is to keep apace of the "regular" lives of these characters. It could all be one endless fight against Klaus, and sometimes it is, at least in the B-plot, but for the continuing progressions of jobs and first loves and changing opinions.
One of the first things you start really examining when you get to university is sexuality and promiscuity and interactivity. It's just a basic fact that comes from everyone around you also having an available bed nearby. What's okay? What's not? What is a version of it that doesn't look like what we usually think of it?
I find Klaus tiresome, most of the time, but I have always loved Rebecca, a girl who wants too hard to have a young person's life, no matter how many times she is thwarted at getting it. So this time when she goes to see her brother, he tries to make everything all about slut-shaming her. It's her fault she was with one of the brothers, it's her fault they're now dealing with a vampire hunter. She is a cold-blooded killer and all, but he still manages to make her cry without trying.
And what method does he use? Slut-shaming, obviously. Why is this so effective? I mean effective in two ways, because even though it pissed her off royally, not least because she's still victim to him every time he wants to toy with her – like she can't not go running back – it also leads her to get real, yet again, about how much she hates him and his expectations for her to be just his silent support. That, I'm down with.
But we knew Klaus was a bad guy (and thank you, show, for backing off of Klaus + Caroline) and we knew Rebecca was petulant. What kills me is how Stefan thinks he's good. Or that the ends justify the means – that he can trick Rebecca and help Klaus because a cure would be the best thing for Elena, and for Stefan, who would have her all to himself again.
Sorry, but do we not see this as selfish? I have always beat this drum – that Damon wants Elena as she is, and Stefan wants her as he wants her to be – i.e., in a way where only he can possess her. Elena is talking herself into feeling that way, too.
Because did you see her at school? Drinking and partying and being delighted with Damon? Feeling like everything, including all those feelings, were happening in just the exact way they were supposed to? He lets her be free! He's not pushing her, he's doing what he knows she needs. I feel pretty strongly that this is true. That her sexuality – oh, I'm sorry, I mean vampirism – can be allowed to feel like it's a gift instead of an albatross around her neck… with Damon, at least. She and he were so happy together…until Bonnie.
Bonnie is jealous. Yes, I said it. Jealous of the connection that Elena and Damon have, because here's someone who understands you totally. (I couldn't even begin to wonder what's up with Jeremy and Bonnie.) Jealous that Elena has a situation in which she can be as free as she wants to be. Bonnie, on the other hand, has to restrict herself all the time. She can't be free. She can't feel good – she got punished. Witches love their consequences, don't they?
But Bonnie, like Stefan, wants Elena to be who she was back then because it's easier for her. Because then she doesn't have to change to adjust to her friend, just like Stefan doesn't have to change to accept that Elena has sexual feelings – I mean, sorry, vampire feelings – that he didn't teach her. He's not confident enough in their love that she'll come back to him once she sees the world that's out there, beyond his close, stifling embrace.
It's a bad move, Stefan.
In other news, glad we're getting some villains who look like they're bad – ear-post ripping Connor and the buddy who's the professor. Klaus may have been scary at the end of season two, but his poncey bluster has really died out, even if he is still a misogynistic ass.


text:
Just how different can the Greens afford to be?
When Greens senator Lee Rhiannon hit send on a tweet earlier this week, congratulating activist Jonathan Moylan for his hoax against Whitehaven Coal, the Twittersphere held its breath.
Surely Rhiannon would delete the tweet quick smart. Maybe Greens leader Christine Milne would even force an apology, as is sometimes the case when a politician says something outre.
After all, Moylan's hoax, which saw Whitehaven's share price temporarily tumble, had already stirred up some hefty public outrage about the cost to mum and dad investors. ASIC was also making inquiries.
But Rhiannon did no deleting whatsoever and Milne came out to back her senator with fighting words.
The Greens leader told Fairfax Media Moylan's actions were ''part of a long and proud history of civil disobedience, potentially breaking the law, to highlight something wrong''.
Eyebrows were raised.
Online commentators called Rhiannon's tweet ''ludicrously ignorant & idiotic'' and ''breathtakingly odd'', while Liberal frontbencher Eric Abetz deemed the Greens to be the ''epitome of extremism'', and chief government whip Joel Fitzgibbon labelled the remarks ''outrageous''.
Yet for Greens digital communications coordinator, David Paris, the snafu was in fact no snafu at all, but a positive development for the party.
''If there is a little bit of controversy and it kicks up a great discussion, I think that's a good thing,'' he told The Australian Financial Review on Thursday.
On paper, a ''no such thing as bad publicity'' mentality would seem to be unusual for any party - let alone the Greens - as they head into an election year.
The party has long had to deal with accusations that they were ''loopy'' and ''extreme''. And we've all heard the old joke about watermelons.
It is an issue the party appear to acknowledge themselves.
Last month, the Greens revealed a new platform, to present smaller targets to critics. Many of their core beliefs are now listed under ''aims and principles'', rather than explicit policies.
It is of course, possible that in speaking their minds - going against the political consensus and standing up to big companies - the Greens might get some electoral thumbs up. Particularly among younger voters who like a bit of bolshiness.
Some voters may appreciate the Greens having the guts to stand by their more controversial statements, rather than hastily backtracking with the usual weasel words and ''I-was-taken-out-of-contexts''.
The Greens hoax-stance also paints newish leader Milne as strong and definite as she shapes the party in the post Bob Brown era. And yet, in recent times, the Greens standing by their principles hasn't necessarily pleased the electorate.
The party copped flack last year during the asylum seeker debate. In September, the party's Newspoll vote dropped to 8 per cent - its lowest in more than three years - in the wake of the parliamentary impasse.
Analysis suggested people did not like the Greens refusal to make and back a compromise.
The polls have continued to look unpromising since. The Greens had a disastrous showing in the October ACT elections, losing three of their four members in the territory's Assembly.
The party finished the year with a Fairfax/ Nielsen polled primary vote of 10 per cent, down from the 11.8 per cent it captured in the last federal election.
According to fundraising material, the Greens are hoping to attract an extra 400,000 votes across Australia in this year's contest.
The Greens have long prided - and pitched - themselves as being different from the other parties.
The question is, how different can they afford to be if they want an extra 400,000 votes. Let alone the ones they already have?


text:
Kaarin Johnston
Kaarin S. Johnston, Professor of Theater
Ph.D. Southern Illinois University (Speech/Theater)
MA University of South Dakota (Theater)
BA Cornell College (English, History, Theater)
Originally from New Mexico, Kaarin taught in South Dakota, Alabama and Maine before settling down in Minnesota. She now teaches courses in Literature, Theory, Theater History, Directing, Playwriting and Theater & Drama for Youth.
Kaarin enjoys serving as a moderator for student directed plays, student created performance projects, and the creation of student-written original scripts for performance. Every May, right after graduation, she works with a team of student actors to tour a play for young people to local area schools.
Contact information: [email protected] BAC - A182 320-363-5813 (office)


text:
Cyber criminals can infiltrate computers and corporate networks in a variety of ways, including the use of "malware" — malicious software that can be downloaded to computers without the users ever knowing — and "social engineering" — which amounts to tricking computers users into revealing passwords and other confidential data.
Here are five steps to help computer users avoid becoming a target of cybercrime, and prevent personal computers from being enlisted by hackers to conduct cyber espionage around the globe:
1. Update software.
Guarding against malware is never-ending, with security specialists struggling to keep up with the hackers. For both corporate and individual users, updating and patching software is a must to keep ahead of those who exploit weaknesses in software code. For example, if your web browser uses an outdated version of Java, it could be vulnerable to hackers. The same applies to other software that you may have installed but never bothered to update.
2. Use anti-virus and security software.
Security software, which ranges from that administered by your corporate IT department to consumer versions for computers, notebooks, smartphones and other mobile devices, provides an important layer of defence. For home users, it's important to remember anti-virus or security software isn't to be installed and forgotten, but should be set for auto-updating so it will recognize new and updated viruses, block attempted attacks, and warn of such dangers as infected websites.
3. Beware of bogus emails and websites that may not be what they seem.
"Social engineering" is a little trickier to guard against, particularly if you have a number of employees in your business, or if your kids, friends or others use your home computers.
Phishing, which is the practice of sending spam email that purports to be from banks or other legitimate businesses in an effort to get people to click on a website and/or enter confidential data, is on the decline in Canada. But that is only because cyber criminals are more closely targeting their victims, and our national pastime of updating social networks with details of our lives is helping them to do that.
Don't click on links in emails, even if they appear to be from someone you know, particularly if the email is urging you to go to your bank or corporate website to update log-in information or other details.
4. Don't assume that anything you post on social networks will only be seen by those you intend to have see it.
The Facebook posts of someone who works in an IT department could reveal enough information to allow a hacker to craft a carefully tailored email purporting to be from the boss or someone else the recipient would know. The email could be used to gain passwords or pave the way for malware, effectively giving hackers the keys to the corporate vault so they can steal anything from customer credit card data to high-level and lucrative intellectual property.
5. Don't assume that your computer is of no interest to hackers.
In cyber-espionage, your computer could become a "robot" in an army controlled by hackers anywhere in the world, and used to carry out cyber-attacks or disseminate spam. Gone are the days when a hacker wants to crash your computer. Today's stealth hacker could be using your computer, conveying orders and setting it to tasks remotely, without alerting you to your computer's secret life.


text:
For over a hundred years Sellin has been the ideal destination for those actively seeking to preserve their health, thanks to the resort's mild yet bracing Baltic sea climate, its medicinal chalk therapies and its nutrient-rich muds.
In Sellin, the spa and wellness paradise on the island of Rügen, you can leave your worries behind, embrace your zest for life and come away feeling revitalised – especially after a treatment using the medicinal chalk that formed here more than 60 million years ago.
Health-restoring body masks
This fine-grained natural substance retains heat, cleanses the skin and draws out toxins. Rügen medicinal chalk is used in Sellin as a body mask, medicinal bath or exfoliating scrub and makes an effective therapeutic complement to the peat spas and mud treatments that are also commonly used here.
Where goodness is in the air
There are also health benefits to be found in Sellin's fresh coastal breeze, salty water and – most importantly – the iodine-rich sea air: Rügen's mild yet bracing climate is excellent medicine in itself. This is especially true for asthmatics, but the air also does good for sufferers of chronic bronchitis, high blood pressure, rheumatism, skin complaints, chronic musculoskeletal diseases and other conditions. A number of hotels in Sellin have specialised in modern spa treatments and pampering programmes.
Happy holidays!
Sellin indulges all the senses with three kilometres of beautiful, clean beaches, the historical pier, the annual pier festival and the nearby Sellin hills. For an extra memorable experience, take a walk through Jasmund National Park, roughly 30km north of Sellin. Its ancient beech forests date back over 700 years and enjoy the protection of UNESCO World Heritage status. The resort has everything you need for an unforgettable holiday that will leave you feeling as good as new.
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text:
[Page 195]
Translated by Jerrold Landau As we come to present an overview of the Organization of Natives of Maytchet and its Region in Israel, and its activities, it is appropriate to first describe the makeup of our organization in Israel, the people who belong to it, and how those people came to it. We can assume that in what was called the Old settlement [Yishuv Hayashan] in the Land, which included almost exclusively people whose prime goal was to fulfill the commandment of the settlement of the Land of Israel, there were some individuals during various periods who stemmed from the town of Maytchet. I can base this assumption on personal testimony from the elders of my family, who stated that one of the fathers of the family made aliya to the Land, died there, and is buried in the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem.
To the extent that we all recall, and as is related in this book, the final two people who made aliya with the aims of the Old Settlement, that is for the purposes of fulfilling the commandment of the settlement of the Land of Israel [1], were Reb Yehoshua Aharon Lisovski of blessed memory, and Reb Yisrael Zalman Shlovski of blessed memory. The rest of the residents of Maytchet and its region who made aliya to the Land of Israel during the last fifty years came here for different reasons. Their main motivation for aliya to the Land was the idea of Chibat Zion [2]. Others made aliya under the rubric of the various Zionist pioneering movements, and still others came as tourists or students and remained in the Land. Holocaust refugees, who had gone through the various Zionist movements and preferred to set up their households in the Land of Israel rather than the Diaspora, arrived after the war.
The first founding meetings of natives of Maytchet and its region in Israel began in 1946, when the Holocaust survivors began to make aliya to the Land of Israel. I especially recall the first meeting that took place in the home of Shifra and Yosef Lozovski in Rishon Lezion, at which the first Holocaust survivors who began to arrive in the Land of Israel were present. Later, after the details of the Holocaust and the date of the final annihilation of our townsfolk became known, annual memorials for the Holocaust victim began to take place on Rosh Chodesh Av of every year. At first, various local memorials took place, for the most part in private houses of Maytchet natives, including Moshe Kleinshtov of blessed memory and his wife Miriam may she live, Shifra and Yosef Lozovski, Binyamin Stolovitzki, Nachum Rabinovitch and others. The members Miriam Kleinshtov and Chaya Chaikin were dedicated to the annual memorial. These two members also made sure to set up meetings between natives of Maytchet and its region in Israel with guests from the Diaspora. The first meeting of this nature took place at the beginning of the 1950s in the home of Miriam Kleinshtov in Tel Aviv. Mr. Ben-Zion Kobinski of Argentina was present.
[Page 196]
Sitting from the right: Reuven Rabinovitch, Esther Lozovski, Tov Shomroni, Yechezkel Ravitz, Miriam Kleinshtov, Yosef Lozovski, Chaya Chaikin, Chaya Lubtzik
Standing from the right: Nachum Margolin, Moshe Korn
[Page 197]
[Page 198]
On Rosh Chodesh Av 5722 (August 1, 1962), after the annual memorial that took place in the home of Miriam Kleinshtov, a general meeting of the natives of the town was held, at which it was decided to work toward publishing this book. In the wake of this decision, an expanded organizing committee was chosen, consisting of nine members: Chaya Chaikin, Chaya Lubtzik, Yosef Lozovski, Esther Lozovski, Nachum Margolin, Moshe Korn, Miriam Kleinshtov, Reuven Rabinovitch, and Tova Shomroni. This committee acted in all areas: it maintained communication with all the natives of Maytchet and its region, initiated meetings for various events, disseminated the idea for the publication of the book also among the natives of Maytchet and its region in the Diaspora, organized and conducted various welcome parties for all Maytchet natives in the Diaspora who visited Israel, and worked toward strengthening the social connections among the natives of the town in the land. The crowning achievement of the activities of this committee was the setting up of a memorial plaque for the martyrs of Maytchet and its region who perished in the Holocaust. This monument is engraved upon a marble tablet located in the Holocaust Cellar on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The veil was removed from the memorial plaque on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Av 5722 (July 9, 1964). At that time, the annual memorial event took place in the presence of most of the natives of Maytchet and its region in Israel. The memorial took place at the memorial monument in Jerusalem the following year as well. Starting from Rosh Chodesh Av 5626 (1966), the annual memorial ceremony for the martyrs of our town took place in a special hall in Tel Aviv or its area.
Among the Maytchet natives of the Diaspora who visited Israel were Mr. and Mrs. Marim Spencer (Pintzinski) of blessed memory and Mr. and Mrs. Alter Albert Kodovich, who visited Israel in 1963. As on all similar occasions, a warm, enthusiastic reception was arranged for them in the home of Esther and Meir Lozovski, with the participation of members of the organization. On that occasion, the guests gave over a sum of money to the organization, as a gift from the Committee of Maytchet Natives of New York and several private individuals, for use toward the charitable fund for the needy from among the natives of Maytchet and its region in Israel.
After the annual memorial ceremony on Rosh Chodesh Av 5726 (July 18, 1966), a general meeting of all the participants was conducted. Given that the activities for advancing the publication of the book had become more urgent, it was decided to spread the committee out further by setting up four smaller committees in order to involve a larger number of members in the communal efforts. The following people were chosen to the organizational committee: Sara Ahronovski, Yosef Lozovski, Nachum Margolin, Moshe Korn, Miriam Kleinshtov, and Moshe Ravitz. The following people were chosen for the charitable fund committee: Chaya Chaikin, Yitzchak Lubelinski, Mina Levin, Yosef Lozovski, and Pesach Mlinikovski. The following perople were chosen for the book committee: Chaya Lubtzik, Esther Lozovski, Yosef Lozovski, Chana Machtiger, Nachum Margolin, Moshe Korn, and Tova Shomroni. The following three members were chosen for the audit committee: Yerachmiel Brunitzki, Binyamin Stolovitzki, and Reuven Rabinovitch. Indeed, most of the members of the committees acted in accordance with their tasks.
The Organization of Natives of Maytchet and its Region in Israel is not different from other similar organizations, and its activities do not deviate from those of other similar organizations. Throughout no small number of years, the organization acted to perpetuate the town and the Holocaust that fell upon its
[Page 199]
[Page 200]
Jews during the Second World War. This objective reached its fulfillment with The Book of Maytchet in which these words are inscribed for memorial throughout the generations.
Finally, we should note the organizations of Maytchet natives throughout the world. They have a single purpose before their eyes: to form a common framework so that the natives of the city can meet together, to bring to the fore memories of the town and its dear ones, and to provide assistance and support for Maytchet natives throughout the world. The main point is to support any plan whose aim is to perpetuate the martyrs of our community with the honor due to them, and to conduct an annual memorial day for the martyrs.
In the first place, we must note the long-time Society in New York, which was founded at the beginning of the 20th century and maintains its own cemetery as is the custom with Landsmanschaften. The organization in Israel is in constant contact with them. A similar organization exists in Argentina, which also goes back a long time. We also maintain a constant connection with them. Aside from these, there are individuals and non-organized groups in Canada, Mexico and other countries. Maytchet natives in the Diaspora who visit Israel, or vice versa, enjoy an enthusiastic welcome party, which engenders mutual joy.
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
Molchad, Belarus Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page
Copyright © 1999-2019 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 9 Aug 2013 by LA


text:
...that Sudan repeatedly has used its apostasy law over the past two years against Christians and Muslims?
Apostasy is the formal abandonment, or renunciation, of a religious faith. Under Article 126 of Sudan's 1991 Criminal Act, apostasy from Islam is legally punishable by death. While this punishment has not been carried out in almost two decades, there have been a number of apostasy cases in the past two years. In the past, suspected converts were subjected to intense scrutiny, intimidation, and sometimes torture by government security personnel.
All Sudanese, including Christians and followers of traditional African religions, are subject to the government's interpretation of Shari'ah (Islamic law). Khartoum's policies of Islamization and Arabization are root causes of Sudan's many wars including the North-South civil war from 1983 to 2005, the genocide in Darfur, and the current fighting in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
During... Read More
...that Turkmenistan is the most closed of the post-Soviet countries?
Since 2007, Turkmenistan has been led by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. The country's first president who died in 2006, Saparmurat Niyazov, oversaw one of the world's most repressive and isolated states. Virtually no independent public activity was allowed, and a 2003 religion law banned most religious activity. The 2003 religion law, which violates international standards on freedom of region or belief, continues to be enforced. It sets intrusive registration criteria; bans any activity by unregistered religious organizations; requires that the government be informed of all foreign financial support; forbids worship in private homes; and places severe and discriminatory restrictions on religious education.
Berdimuhamedov continues to maintain a state structure of control and repression. For instance, a system of categorical denials of international travel for many citizens... Read More
… that since 2009, Switzerland has banned the construction of minarets?
In November 2009, Swiss voters and cantons approved a popular initiative to amend the Swiss federal constitution to ban the future construction of minarets. The amendment added a new sub-article (3) to Article 72 (Church and State) stating that "The building of minarets is prohibited." The four minarets that existed in the country at the time of the ban were not affected. The ban does not affect the future building of mosques, though they still are subject to existing local zoning requirements.
In Switzerland's system of direct democracy, citizens have the power to propose and require a popular vote on initiatives to amend the Swiss federal constitution by collecting the signatures of 100,000 voters supporting a particular initiative within a period of 18 months. The minaret ban was proposed in 2007 by two far-right political parties that argued it was needed to stop the alleged "... Read More
...that Turkey's strict adherence to secularism has lead to religious freedom violations for Muslims and non-Muslims alike?
Turkey imported and enshrined the French concept of secularism, or laïcité, into its constitution on February 5, 1937. Often described as freedom from religion, Turkey's application of laïcité requires that religion be absent from all governmental affairs, while at the same time giving the government strict control over the practice of religion.
After the establishment of the Turkish Republic following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, solidifying secularism became a driving principal of the Republic. This principle led the government to seek to control or limit all religions in the public sphere, including in government offices, schools, and houses of worship. Eighty plus years later, Turkey's longstanding application of laïcité has detrimentally impacted all religious communities, including the Sunni... Read More
… that since the beginning of the Egyptian revolution, two years ago, nearly 100 Coptic Orthodox Christians have been killed in Egypt due to sectarian violence, surpassing the death toll of the previous 10 years combined?
The situation for Copts in Egypt remains precarious, as extremist elements continue to randomly target Coptic Christians.Aclimate of impunity continues to exist asmost of the alleged perpetrators of violent incidents over the last two yearshave not been brought to justice, despite the fact that the number of incidents of sectarian violence decreased in2012, along with a significant decrease in the number of injuries and deaths. Notably, there still have been no convictions for the October 2011 Maspero violence in which 26 people, mostly Copts, were killed, and hundreds injuredduring protests.
In addition, since the January 25, 2011 revolution, there has been an increase in the number of blasphemy and defamation of religion cases that... Read More
...that the Eritrean government, one of the most repressive governments in the world where a recent coup attempt just failed, has placed Eritrean Orthodox Church Patriarch Abune Antonios under house arrest since January 2006?
Eritrea has been called the North Korea of Africa for, among other reasons, torturing and imprisoning thousands and committing systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. On January 13, 2006, the Eritrea government placed Patriarch Antonios under house arrest, and on January 20, 2006, stripped him of his executive authority over the Eritrean Orthodox Church. Although Patriarch Antonios was permitted to officiate church services, the government removed his administrative role over church affairs. One year later, on May 27, 2007, the Eritrean government appointed a new Patriarch and forcibly moved Patriarch Antonios to an undisclosed house where he continues to be detained. Patriarch Antonios, who suffers from... Read More
...that France's military intervention follows almost a year in which three religious extremist groups controlled northern Mali.
A March 2012 coup d'état in Mali's capital Bamako left northern Mali vulnerable to militias already rebelling against the central government and religious extremist groups operating in the region. After taking over the north, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar al-Din, and the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) forcibly imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law and have committed numerous religious freedom violations, including applying hudood punishments, and enforcing what they deem appropriate dress and behavior. In late 2012, the UN Security Council passed resolution 2085 on December 20 authorizing an African Union peacekeeping mission and political negotiations between the Malian central government and rebel groups. As the international community trained the peacekeeping force, the... Read More
... that in 2012 Vladimir Putin signed into force five new Russian laws that restrict the civil and political rights of Russian civil society, including those of religious communities?
Protests erupted across the Russian Federation, but particularly in Moscow, after Vladimir Putin returned to the Russian presidency in March 2012 in an election widely viewed as rigged. In response to these major demonstrations, Putin signed a raft of new legislation into force that created harsh new penalties for independent political activity, which also impacts religious freedom. USCIRF Chair Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett and USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Catherine Cosman visited Moscow in September 2012. The policy brief, " Russia: Unruly State of Law ," details findings from this trip.
In June, Putin signed the first bill into law that imposes new administrative fines,... Read More
…that in South Korea, around 800 Jehovah's Witness men are currently imprisoned for refusing compulsory military service and an estimated 500 new conscientious objectors are jailed each year.
Since 1960, more than 12,000 Jehovah's Witness members and other conscientious objectors have served eighteen month sentences for violating South Korea's Military Service Act (MSA), which requires all 19 to 35 year old Korean men to serve a two year military commitment. Because of their criminal record, conscientious objectors are not allowed to enter a government office and apply for any type of national certification exam. South Korea's Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and the National Human Rights Committee have recommended an alternative service system. However, given rising military tensions with its neighbor North Korea, the Administration of current President Lee Myung-bak has not provided MSA exemptions for either clergy or conscientious objectors.
The... Read More
…that Boko Haram attacked Nigerian churches over the past two consecutive Christmas holidays?
Boko Haram, a violent religious extremist group, has been responsible for a series of deadly attacks around the 2010 and 2011 Christmas holidays. On Christmas day 2011, bombings occurred in or around churches in Jos, Kano, Madalla, Gadaka, and Damaturu; 40 died in Madalla alone. On Christmas Eve 2010, a policeman was killed while guarding a church and a number of churches were attacked in Maiduguri, killing six and injuring 25.
Boko Haram is an Islamic sect from northern Nigeria that views as morally corrupt the federal and northern state governments, as well as political and religious leaders. The group rejects the west and the secular state and seeks the universal implementation of "pure" sharia law to resolve the ills facing northern Nigerian Muslims. Boko Haram targets anyone or any institution opposing its world view, including Muslim clerics,... Read More